I recently sprained my ankle quite badly and the recovery, just three weeks in, is going slowly. I returned to the hospital last week, and the nurse practitioner there told me that recovery is assisted by walking on the injury, which is completely counterintuitive and contrary to our old advice of immobilize and rest. You might heal, but you’ll lose a bunch of mobility and strength and perhaps make yourself susceptible to chronic injury. She said, “It won’t be pain free, but keep walking.” So much of our world is geared to not feeling pain – take a pill, buy some stuff, work harder, drink more, get high, binge TV shows, eat – yet there isn’t any growth if we don’t acknowledge, sit with, look at, process and deal with the pain. Whether it’s emotional, mental, or physical injury, denying or fighting off the pain only prolongs the issues and keeps you from fulfilling your complete potential. This long weekend, find a bit of time to sit quietly with yourself and notice what’s up with your body – is it tense, sore, flexible, relaxed? What’s it trying to tell you? Sit with it and if there’s pain, let it be okay. Pain is not your enemy, it’s just a marker of something that needs to be healed. And sometimes it’s okay if it hurts.
Sometimes it’s okay if it hurts,
walking through life.
Damper pedaling pain,
desiring pain free or
constantly running from it
only prolongs it.
Sometimes it’s okay if it hurts.
Sometimes hurting means
you’re healing.
Sometimes hurting means
you need some attention, and
sometimes, hurting means that
one time, once,
you were deliriously happy,
highly excited,
new relationship, new job,
success on your own terms,
oldrelationshipsdeepeningjoy!
The ups felt so up up up that
the downs felt so down but
it’s just the full range of life, love,
DolbysurroundsoundAtmos
3D, 4K, hi-def experience,
experienced, and
sometimes
it’s okay
if it
hurts.